30 Writing Activities for Preschoolers & Kindergarten
July 29, 2024
If you鈥檙e reading this, you鈥檝e likely been reading and writing for quite some time. When writing becomes a habit, we don鈥檛 necessarily stop to consider of the small and large processes that feed into the skill. Teaching preschoolers to write can help us appreciate the complexity of the activity. The process of learning to write begins well before children are able to write full words and sentences. It begins with 鈥減rewriting skills,鈥� which allow children, commonly preschool-aged, to perform activities such as focusing, holding pens or pencils, and forming written shapes. As with many developmental skills, children learn prewriting at different ages and with different amounts of practice and guidance. Continue reading for more on prewriting skills and preschool writing activities as well as writing activities for kindergarten.
A bit about prewriting skills
Children learn to write in multiple stages, beginning with the preliterate stage, in which they develop the basic strength and coordination needed to hold a writing utensil, gradually making their way to scribbling. Then, in the emergent stage, they begin drawing lines and shapes. In the transitional stage, children start to phonetically associate letters with sounds, and they begin writing letters and simple words. Finally, as they approach the fluent stage, they start to write known words and follow conventional writing rules.
Prewriting skills, put simply, help children to transition between these stages. They include:
- developing attention span
- learning hand-eye coordination
- improving fine motor skills听
- crossing the midline
- forming patterns
- understanding how marks on a page can represent objects in the world
30 Writing Activities for Preschoolers & Kindergarten (Continued)
So, how are they taught? When it comes to teaching preschoolers to write, it鈥檚 not always clear where to begin, especially since children develop prewriting skills at different paces. While it鈥檚 important to focus on specific skills at times, (for example, pinpointing which skills are needed for a child to be able to hold a pencil), it鈥檚 also important to include variation. While certain skills may come naturally to some children, they may be quite difficult for others. If you find that a student is having difficulty or becoming with one activity or skillset, it may be worthwhile to switch to a different activity and reintroduce the first one a few months later.听
Continue reading for 30 writing activities for preschoolers that you can try in your classroom. Many of these activities include tips for advancement if your students are ready, and tips for simplification if they鈥檙e experiencing difficulty.听
One more note: a number of these activities involve materials such as beads, stamps, or magnets that could pose choking hazards, so make sure that an adult is present.
30 Preschool Writing Activities for Preschoolers and Kindergarten听
1) Sidewalk chalk
What鈥檚 better than learning while playing outside? For the simplest version of this activity, you can just hand your preschoolers chalk and let them play freely (even holding the chalk teaches prewriting skills). For more complexity, have them draw particular letters and shapes them on the sidewalk. You can also draw initial letters with chalk and have your students trace, beautify, and replicate them.
2) Letter identification game
听Write letters on pieces of paper and ask children to find objects around the classroom that start with that letter. For example, if you write the letter 鈥淏,鈥� children might find building blocks, balls, or books. This activity is perfect for teaching real-world identification with written symbols.
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3) Letter matching game
听Similar to the game above, print out letters on one set of cards and images on another set. Preschoolers can match 鈥淎鈥� with a picture of an alligator, 鈥淏鈥� with a picture of a bicycle, and so on so forth.
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4) Complete a puzzle
Easy puzzles are perfect for helping preschool students learn to identify shapes, exercise patience, and problem-solve. Puzzles for preschoolers vary widely in difficulty.听听
5) Write with shaving cream
听For a fun experience with textures, preschool students can trace letters on desks with shaving cream. While this activity may seem messy, it turns out that shaving cream actually cleans desks (for this reason, it can be a great last day of school activity before winter or summer holidays).
6) Q-tip painting
听In this easy crafts activity, students can dip Q-tip cotton swabs in paint away. For an easier exercise, begin with simple dots. For a greater challenge, trace shapes and letters with the cotton swabs.
30 Writing Activities for Preschoolers & Kindergarten (Continued)
7) Pipe cleaner bracelets
听If you have pipe cleaners and beads lying around your classroom, threading the beads is an easy way to teach children fine motor skills. Depending on age and skill level, you can challenge your students to alternate bead colors, teaching pattern recognition.
8) Alphabet stamps
听Find a set of alphabet stamps and ink in a few different colors. Have your students stamp the alphabet, simple words, or their names on construction paper.听
9) Finger tracing
听Children can learn valuable tracing and midline-crossing skills before even holding a writing utensil. Have them tracing letters in the air with their fingers. Make it a dance party by turning on some fun music.
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10) Shape playdough
听Playdough activities can teach young children hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. Have them roll the playdough into balls or long snake-like pieces (step 1), and if they鈥檙e ready, create letters.
11) Beads and playdough
听For another great playdough prewriting activity, roll it out onto a flat surface and ask your students to create shapes with cookie cutters. Then, hand them each a cup of beads for decoration. Read more about this exercise .
12) Playdough and building
One more exercise with playdough, while we鈥檙e at it:听 Collect sticks outside (or use popsicle sticks or toothpicks) and hold them together using small balls of playdough at the corners to create simple shapes. These can be flat (triangles and squares) or simple 3D structures (think small tent-like pyramids) when your students are ready.听
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13) Rainbow drawing
听To teach hand-eye coordination and pattern recognition, have your preschoolers create rainbows by drawing parallel arches in colored patterns (these rainbows can follow the order of colors in actual rainbows, or they can use students鈥� color combinations of choice).
14) Scribble drawing
听For a more free-form approach, have your preschoolers draw scribbles on white paper with black marker, and then color the space between the lines using chosen colors. This activity develops the skill of manipulating writing utensils with precision.
15) Threading rings
听Children can develop arm strength, coordination, and pattern recognition by threading string through paper rings. See if you can work together as a class to create a patterned string decoration that hangs from one wall to another.
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16) Finger paint with dots
听Using only washable finger paint and the tips of their fingers, your preschool students can form shapes by dotting paint onto paper. They can experiment with using different parts of their fingers for differently shaped dots.听
17) Tactile board
听Tactile boards help young children to develop fine motor skills and learn about shapes. These can be bought, but they鈥檙e also .
18) Hopscotch
听For an active letter recognition game, draw letters onto pieces of cardboard and place them on the floor. Your preschool students can hop onto the different letters (a variation of a traditional hopscotch game) while saying them aloud. This is a fun way to learn bodily coordination, in addition to letter recognition.
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19) Bubble wrap
听Bring bubble wrap into your classroom for a number of prewriting possibilities. Simply popping the bubbles can help with finger strength, but for a fun tracing challenge, draw letters with a Sharpie on the bubble wrap and have your students pop their way across them.
20) LEGO fun
听Put these popular building toys to good use by having your preschool students build the shapes of different letters.
21) Play with masking tape
听Your students can tear colored (and easily removable) masking tape and stick it to a flat surface to create specific letters and shapes. Give them the task of decorating your classroom as they form shapes on walls and windows.
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22) Be a copycat
Working in pairs, your preschoolers can try to draw the exact same shape as one another. First, one child draws a shape. Then, the next child copies it. They can look for differences between the two shapes. This activity can help children develop prewriting skills, as well as social skills like cooperation and taking turns.
23) Sand tracing
听Draw shapes or letters onto a piece of paper and then place the paper into a wide and shallow container. Place a scoop of sand in the container, and have your preschoolers trace the shape to form lines and curves.
24) Salt writing
Similar to the sand tracing activity, salt writing involves students tracing shapes and letters in a shallow tray of salt. Food coloring can be added for a more colorful variation on the activity.
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25) Glue and glitter designs
听Draw letters or simple words on paper, and have your preschool students trace these letters with glue. The action of squeezing the glue, combined with the tracing, helps children to develop fine motor skills. Afterwards, let them toss some glitter onto the glue so they鈥檙e left with beautiful art projects to take home.
26) Bead designs
听For a more advanced and pattern-oriented variation of the glue-and-glitter exercise, your students can place plastic beads on the glue instead of glitter, forming patterns by alternating bead colors and shapes.
27) Magnet board
听Write letters on a magnet board with a dry erase marker, and instruct your preschoolers to trace or decorate them using small colored magnets.
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28) Clothespin clipping
听To help your preschoolers develop grip strength, students can create patterns by clipping differently colored clothespins to string, paper, or fabric. They can also choose correct answers to questions by clipping a clothespin to cards, adding a strength-building bonus to all sorts of different learning activities.听
29) Paper scrunching
听The ever-so-satisfying activity of scrunching paper into a ball can also help with hand-strength-building for little ones. Have your preschool students create balls with recycled construction paper or newspaper, and then ask them to pass the balls back and forth for extra practice in hand-eye coordination.
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30) Get out the scissors
听Draw curved and angled lines on construction paper and ask your preschoolers to cut along those lines using kid-safe scissors. They can also decorate the cut-out shapes using glue, stickers, beads, and markers.
Final Thoughts – 30 Writing Activities for Preschoolers & Kindergarten
We hope you鈥檝e found some inspiration while reading through these early writing activities for preschoolers. If you鈥檙e interested in further reading that鈥檚 relevant to preschool and elementary school learners, check out the following blog articles:
- 124 Good Icebreaker Questions for Students/Adults
- 141 Fun, Weird, & Interesting Facts鈥�2024
- 60 Easy Science Experiments for Kids
- 55 Best Short Stories for Kids and Middle Schoolers听
- 67 Most Common Teacher Interview Questions & Answers听
